Preparing to ‘stage’ a piece of VR – A Director’s Perspective

It all begins with the content for the experience.  Once this has been chosen, properly researched, and the audience’s role is determined, my workflow usually starts with hunting and securing a location, or in the case of a built environment, determining the scenographic environment(s) with the environmental artist.  Once this/these are sorted, I like to map the space out/measure it (with a tape measure for real locations) and then work out a staging (or movement patterns) that effectively uses the space in very human, realistic and believable ways.  In real spaces, it is important to know what camera you are working with from the outset, as this will impact the proximity between actors and audience/SAM (Single Audience Member).

Once the piece has been mapped out, I like to do a walking test for the camera to make sure that it all feels right for SAM. I watch my stumble through in headset and tweak as needed until I have movement patterns that feel spatially and textually authentic.  I generally like to rehearse on location/set too.  My draft staging is essentially my pencil sketch for the piece and I fill it in with the actors, as they will always bring new insights that will shape the work.  Working on site means that we can all play with the space and pull inspiration from it. Also, the more comfortable the performers are with the macro and micro aspects of the environment, the easier it will be for them to craft refined, authentic performances. This process also includes working with the lighting and sound designer to make sure that any key effects are built into the work from the start. This is especially critical for SFX, as you’ll need to rehearse these into the staging with your actors. Don’t leave either until the end. 
 
Costumes and props also have to be built in during this part of the process.  Clearly, this will have been planned for in pre-production but will come into play at this stage.  I should also mention that, before the first location rehearsal, I have at least one rehearsal with the actors/singers to read/sing through the work, talk them through concepts, characters etc. and tweak anything we can in advance of the first staging rehearsal. 
 
Before moving from rehearsals to capture mode, we always to a ‘dress/tech rehearsal’ that is captured and reviewed in headset so we can refine any niggling bits of staging, lighting etc. This also affords us the opportunity to give the performers time in the headset with themselves should aspects of their performances need work – often any unconvincing acting moments can be easily sorted by letting the actor experience the problematic moment for themselves.  Each project requires a slightly different approach where rehearsals and capture are concerned.  More rehearsals are likely required for longer stories/text, and with CGI projects, it’s important to get the actors into the headset so they can explore the environments and build memories that they can take into our rehearsal space – this is a critical step for performers in any CG project – as is extensive physical character work so that actors can authentically embody their avatars in the mo-cap studio.
 
When we move into capturing the work there are some things I am adamant about being part of this process.  First, we work in single takes (I aim to do this with CGI projects as well) so that the energy of the performances and story world are consistent.  With this in mind, actors must have embodied the text (be it dialogue, music or both). Memorisation is critical and can’t be avoided (unlike in film where things can be cheated). I’m also a keen on developing a rating process (scale of 1 to 10) with the performers so that I can gauge their feelings about each take in tandem with my own.  This helps highlight the best takes from the worst. What’s interesting about this is that we are almost always unanimous in our understanding about the takes crashed and those that soared.

Written by Christopher Lane